EDITORIAL: State's sex quiz goes all the way

Published: Tuesday, December 4, 2012 at 10:19 AM.

Have you noticed? Some politicians and public servants, mostly men, seem focused — indeed, fixated — on female physiology and sexuality and reproductive decisions. During the campaign that ended Nov. 6, a Missouri candidate for U.S. Senate said women who suffer “legitimate rape” don’t often get pregnant because their bodies can shut down the process. Another said that if a rape victim becomes pregnant, it’s what God intended.

And then there’s the Florida Department of Health.

In September and October, the health agency sent out surveys to 4,100 women between the ages of 18 and 24, asking intimate questions about their sex lives. Participants got $10 gift cards — no, not to Victoria’s Secret, but to CVS pharmacies.

The survey asked the women how old they were when they first had sex. It asked them how many men they’d slept with during the past year. It asked how they felt when they had unprotected sex: Were they in the “heat of the moment and just went with the flow”? Did they feel “powerless”? Or did they feel “emotionally connected” with their sex partners? It even asked whether a partner had ever tried to induce pregnancy by poking holes in a condom.

And on and on, for 46 questions.

We don’t know about condoms, but poking holes in Florida’s sex survey is easy.

For one thing, the sex quiz cost the state $45,000, which doesn’t seem to us a prudent use of taxpayers’ money.

For another, the questions go far beyond the survey’s publicly acknowledged goal. “We want people to be informed so that they can manage their health,” said Dr. John Armstrong, Florida’s surgeon general. But asking young women how many men they’ve had sex with, and whether they’ve ever had unprotected sex because they felt “powerless” in the “heat of the moment,” has only a tenuous connection to managing public health.

Or no connection at all.

There are smarter ways to spend $45,000. End this survey, bureaucrats, and watch your language when you’re talking with the ladies.

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Have you noticed? Some politicians and public servants, mostly men, seem focused — indeed, fixated — on female physiology and sexuality and reproductive decisions. During the campaign that ended Nov. 6, a Missouri candidate for U.S. Senate said women who suffer “legitimate rape” don’t often get pregnant because their bodies can shut down the process. Another said that if a rape victim becomes pregnant, it’s what God intended.

And then there’s the Florida Department of Health.

In September and October, the health agency sent out surveys to 4,100 women between the ages of 18 and 24, asking intimate questions about their sex lives. Participants got $10 gift cards — no, not to Victoria’s Secret, but to CVS pharmacies.

The survey asked the women how old they were when they first had sex. It asked them how many men they’d slept with during the past year. It asked how they felt when they had unprotected sex: Were they in the “heat of the moment and just went with the flow”? Did they feel “powerless”? Or did they feel “emotionally connected” with their sex partners? It even asked whether a partner had ever tried to induce pregnancy by poking holes in a condom.

And on and on, for 46 questions.

We don’t know about condoms, but poking holes in Florida’s sex survey is easy.

For one thing, the sex quiz cost the state $45,000, which doesn’t seem to us a prudent use of taxpayers’ money.

For another, the questions go far beyond the survey’s publicly acknowledged goal. “We want people to be informed so that they can manage their health,” said Dr. John Armstrong, Florida’s surgeon general. But asking young women how many men they’ve had sex with, and whether they’ve ever had unprotected sex because they felt “powerless” in the “heat of the moment,” has only a tenuous connection to managing public health.

Or no connection at all.

There are smarter ways to spend $45,000. End this survey, bureaucrats, and watch your language when you’re talking with the ladies.